Esther, born the year of American Independence 1776, has left us a confusing inscription:

"Tree of Liberty & United States."

Her tree has 35 circles, thought maybe to represent the 33 states in the Union in 1859. Esther lived till 1866 so she saw the admission of the 35th state when Union West Virginia seceded from Confederate Virginia in 1863. But that was nothing for Esther to celebrate. Her family were Virginia Confederates from Rockingham County, near Harrisonburg.

Quilters are currently interpreting the quilt

Here's Doreen Johnson's Tree of Liberty.

The quilt is said to have made for her grandson, Addison Blair Martz who enlisted in the Confederate Virginia Infantry a few days after the first shots at Fort Sumter in April, 1861. According to a family bible:

"Addison B. Martz son of Hiram & Hannah Martz died May the 5th 1863 from the effect of a wound received in the Battle of Chancellorsville May the 3rd 1863."

The first Liberty Tree

The major problem in interpreting Esther's symbolism is the loss of cultural references over the generations. Were we examining the quilt in 1860 we might guess she was referring to the Liberty Tree of 1765 when Britain's Stamp Act enraged Boston's colonists who decorated an old elm tree on with lanterns, posters and effigies of the tax collectors.

Dawn at Collector with a Needle

found a print for each of Esther's circles.

Forty-five lanterns held political symbolism, linking the young rebellion with John Wilkes whose periodical The North Briton had incurred the wrath of the government for criticizing the King in the 45th issue.

Whether or not the first Liberty Tree actually had 45 lanterns we will never know, but the idea of a Liberty Tree was copied as an image of rebellion. John Adams noted in his diary in May, 1766:

"Saw for the first time a likely young button-wood tree, lately planted on a triangle made by three roads. The tree is well set, well guarded, and has on it an inscription, ‘The Tree of Liberty, and cursed is he who cuts this tree.' "

The slogan "45" was understood by all as a symbol the government should be more responsive to the citizens.

Silversmith Paul Revere's No. 45 Punch Bowl.

45 toast were often offered.

In 1768 in Norwich, Connecticut, according to a local 19th-century history:

"An entertainment was given at Peck's tavern, adjoining Liberty Tree, to celebrate the election of Wilkes to Parliament. The principal citizens, both of town and landing, assembled on this festive occasion. All the furniture of the table, such as plates, bowls, tureens, tumblers and napkins, were marked 'No. 45.' ... The Tree of Liberty was decked with new emblems, among which, and conspicuously surmounting the whole, was a flag emblazoned with 'No. 45, Wilkes & Liberty.' "

Disneyworld has a Liberty Tree with lanterns.

If we were more familiar with the 18th-century concept of a Liberty Tree we might see related meaning in Esther Matthews's quilt, but then again 35 circles are not 45 lanterns. The idea of an elm tree with lights does give us a little insight into her meaning. We can wish she'd left an explanation of her symbolism, but I bet she thought she had.

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

We worked together at the magazine in the eighties. She lived in Colorado and was an editor. I mailed the editors articles in manila envelopes. It was fun to be at the center of what was happening. Judy had kids and moved to Iowa. But she never stopped making innovative quilts. (She counts over 250.)

35 years later quilters are still making Judy's Colorado Log Cabin (and not giving her enough credit.) It's the perfect example of an updated classic. She simply added a couple of seams to create secondary patterns. Brilliant!

Supernova is up in Iowa now

The Iowa Quilt Museum has a show of her recent work. Do go to Winterset, Iowa to see Innovation Meets Tradition: Judy Martin Quilts. It's up till October 1st, 2017. The quilts on display focus on Log Cabin and Star quilts, patterns she's explored for years.

Red Sky at Night

Cobblestones

Over the years she has designed simple quilts and complex quilts.

Galileo's Star from the exhibit.

And simple quilts that look complex.

Hollywood Boulevard

Some of her designs are so "of course" that people tend to think they have always been around and they are free to use her ideas without any credit. All the pictures on this page are copyrighted by Judy Martin.

Wedding Bands with its staggered star borders

has been influential recently

She's written over 20 books and published most of them with husband Steve.

One of my favorites is an early book Patchworkbook, a design how-to for piecing.

Scrap Quilts is another early favorite. There is Colorado Log Cabin

on the top shelf.

Judy is from San Diego and grew up with a "mother who sewed and a father whose engineering profession encouraged mathematical practicality. She was at home with the sewing machine and with graph paper at an early age."

Flowering Star

Judy really did a lot to define the end-of-the-20th-century quilt and she is working on the 21st century now with new techniques and traditional designs.

Winterset is a 3 hour drive from Lincoln, Nebraska so you could see two of your favorite quiltmakers' work in one midwestern trip. Edyta Sitar's quilts are at IQSC's Quilt House in Lincoln, Judy Martin's in Iowa.

And in an era when striped bedcovering was the rage, the chintz made a fashionable whole cloth quilt. Above three lengths with the red ground.

Florence Montgomery was the Winterthur Museum's textile curator for many years. In her 1970 catalog Printed Textiles: English and American Cottons and Linens 1700-1850 she showed three versions in the museum collection. Her comments on the striped version below:

"Pillar with baskets of fruit and flowers. Roller printed, about 1830...[with] additions of yellow and a brown striped ground. By making these changes ...different chintzes could be offered at little additional cost." (page 325, fig. 371)

In her 2014 update of the Winterthur catalog Linda Eaton shows five examples with the most outrageous being the stripe Montgomery described (#C-258, page 293). She notes different print quality in the various pieces with the details printed by cylinder and additional color added with blocks. The brown stripe above was printed over the top by "surface roller."

Note to self: If fabric not selling well suggest printing an unrelated stripe over the top

A collage of 10 colorways

I now have found 15 colorways with variations in background and figure colors.

Wholecloth quilt from the Connecticut project:

Chocolate brown ground with red and white figures.

That's darker than this light brown version in

the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Winterthur also has a two-color toile-style piece as a pillow cover.

Eaton shows this one on a green ground with the addition of a white discharged

tassel and lace. The column is marbleized here.

(C257)

So what was the source of the "Pillar with baskets of fruit and flowers," as Montgomery called it. Linda Eaton says "Printed in Britain; 1830s." I'm guessing Lancashire County in England where the many mills produced rather inexpensive furnishing fabrics for export. More than one mill might have printed this popular print.

I have been working on this post for a couple of weeks and last week I was going to say with authority that the fabric was a favorite with Northerners, particularly New Englanders. You just don't see it in Southern quilts, I thought.

But then I found Ann Adeline Orr Parks's panel medallion in the North Carolina Quilts book. Ann (1803-1835) was a young woman in her late 20s or early 30s when this quilt was made. Her husband David Parks owned a dry goods store in Charlotte, Mecklenberg County, North Carolina.

I wonder if anyone cut the basket out of the white chintz

to applique in Broderie-Perse fashion.

Another quilt attributed to Mecklenberg County below, this one dated 1833, confirming the estimated date of early 1830s.

1833 Grandmother Kendall for Ethel F. Munday. Brunk Auction.

Apparently they liked the red ground pillar print in North Carolina too. I imagine the print was sold by dry goods retailers from Maine to Savannah. It would be hard to find another print with more than 15 variations.

UPDATE:

Terry Terrell has commented on my Facebook page:

"Your obsession pillar print pictures show two slightly different prints. Most show smaller acanthus leaves on the capitals and flowers baskets on right with fruit baskets on left.

Note the baskets... (fruit basket on right, flowers on left) and the acanthus leaves on the capitals are larger and swing upward like an old-fashioned mustache. Your red example at the bottom left, and the yellow example at the bottom right are like the attached picture. So which is the copy and which is the original? I have been trying to guess for some time."

Thank you, Terry. I guess we have 16 variations unless it's the same as this one in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Theirs may be unfaded red, while the one Terry sent is faded to pink.

ANOTHER UPDATE

Sandra Starley contributed this blue and white version.

#17

Then I found an answer to my question: Did anyone ever cut out the basket for a cut-out chintz motif? See the book Chintz Quilts from the Poos Collection, pp 287 & 140. She's cut the basket (They call it Bias Weave Yellow Basket) from the chintz four times for the corners of a feathered star.

They mention a quilt with similar basket in the center from the International Quilt Study Center & Museum collection #1997.007.0454.

I am going to have to give up counting and go with my original estimate of Ridiculously Popular.

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I've published a lot of books on quilt history and quilt patterns over the years. Below are some links to buy them, mostly eBooks or Print-on-Demand. But first click on the dog to go to my Etsy store to see if I have any printed copies I can autograph and send you.

VISIT MY ETSY STORE

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E-Book version of Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.

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Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns

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BlockBase

This computer program features over 4,300 patterns. Use it for pattern ideas, pattern I.D. and pattern drafting. Program is for PC's. Click on the box.

Making History: Quilts & Fabric From 1890-1970

A guide to making reproduction quilts, choosing reproduction prints and dating fabrics. Click on the cover to buy it from C&T Publishing.

Borderland in Butternut & Blue

Sampler Quilt to Recall the Civil War Along the Kansas/Missouri Border. A BOM with 14" traditional blocks and lots of history. Click for more:

CLUES IN THE CALICO eBook

Get this classic as an eBook. Easy to find index with a digital search.

America's Printed Fabrics: 1770-1890

How to date antique fabrics and add to your stash of reproduction prints with projects for reproduction quilts. C&T sells new Print-on-Demand editions. Click on the bookcover.

Encyclopedia of Applique

The Encyclopedia of Applique second edition. Click on the bookcover for more information about an eBook or a Print-On-Demand version. Or buy from my stock at my Etsy store above.

Facts and Fabrications

Twenty traditional blocks to "Unravel the History of Quilts and Slavery." Click on the cover to buy an on-demand print edition.

CIVIL WAR SAMPLER: 50 Quilt Blocks

The book based on my Civil War Quilts blog is still in print. Click on the cover to buy a copy from C&T Publishing.

Quilts From the Civil War

Information on the role of quilts in the Civil War. Click on the cover to read more and order a digital version of this out-of-print classic. I have paper copies in my Etsy store above.

Civil War Women

More about quilts and how women used them during the War for fundraising, patriotism and practical bedding. Click on the cover to see more about an e-Book or Print-On-Demand book.

EMPORIA ROSE

Challenging Applique from the heart of quilt country. Click to see more at C&T Publishing.

THE GARDEN QUILT: Interpreting a Masterpiece

More masterpiece applique from Ilyse Moore and me. Click on the cover to read more.

Visit My Spoonflower Shop

I have a few designs available at Spoonflower.com. You can buy yardage of postcard backs, quilt labels (like the one in the photo) and political prints in my Material Culture shop. Click on the label.

BOOK OF THE SAINTS EBOOK

You can buy my Book of the Saints For Quilters as an EBook for IPads for $3.99. Click on the picture to find ordering information for my 30-page collection of photocollages.

Lately Arrived EBook for IPads

A few years ago I did a Blurb book to accompany my Moda repro collection Lately Arrived From London. You can buy this little book with ideas and information on early quilts for $3.99 for your IPad. Click to see

Borderland in Butternut and Blue

A Block of the Month featuring patterns and stories recalling the Civil War in the west. Click on the cover to see more.

Prairie Flower: A Year on the Plains

Block of the month: Original applique patterns recalling the landscape of the westward migration.

Flora Botanica Museum Catalog

Exhibit at the Spencer Museum of Art featuring their spectacular collection. Click to read more.